Book Review: Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton

Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands
by Kate Beaton (741.5 Bea)

Don’t confuse the graphic novel Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands as a light-hearted comic. Rather the book takes a dark look at the harsh effects on the land and the people working for the oil industry in Canada. The graphic novel is actually an adaptation of an autobiographical web “comic” that Kate Beaton produced as she finished working at the oil sands.

 

Although the seaside community of Mabou in Cape Breton Canada is a beautiful place to live, jobs are few and far between. After graduation, Beaton has a mountain of student loans and the kind of jobs she can get in Mabou aren’t going to pay that bill. Like other young people, Beaton goes where the jobs and the money are, out west in the oil sands in Alberta.

 

But the bigger paycheck comes with its own cost. In stark contrast to the beauty of the land is the huge machinery and the scars the oil industry leaves behind on the land. Living is toxic — death and injury happen regularly. Beaton does not hide the grim reality of the misogyny of a place where men greatly outnumber women. Not only is her body openly discussed but men suddenly walk into her room uninvited. Men take advantage of her, but the attitude is that it must be her fault.

 

Where does the title Ducks come from? It refers to an accident in 2008 in which a paddling of ducks land in the oil sludge left behind in the sands and die. Perhaps the title is meant to point to the devastation the oil industry leaves on the land. Perhaps it points to the death of innocence of the people who come to work there.

 

Upon finishing the book, I was left wondering who people really are. Are we the people we are living with our families in ordinary towns and society? Or are we really who we can become living in isolation without social repercussions? In spite of the dark topics, Ducks is well worth the read.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Hark! A Vagrant by Kate Beaton.)

 

( official Kate Beaton Twitter feed )

 

Ducks is one of the Top 11 finalists for One Book – One Lincoln in 2023. Click here to see the rest of this year’s Top 11!

 

Recommended by Cindy K.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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